Super Troopers 2

17 years ago one of the greatest comedies of the new millennium was bestowed upon us. Over the years 'Super Troopers' has been a movie that we all could count on to make us laugh or settle arguments over what to watch on Netflix. Needless to say, it set a pretty high bar and I'll be honest, there was a bit of doubt in my mind that 'Super Troopers 2' could live up to it. It's been such a long time and the movies that comedy troupe Broken Lizard has made since then have never quite managed to capture the same lightning in a bottle that the first one did. Luckily, 'Super Troopers 2' manages to touch on everything we loved about the original without losing any inspiration.

'Super Troopers 2' brings back all the mustachioed troopers you loved from the first film, including Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Lemme, Kevin Heffernan, Erik Stolhanske, and Paul Soter. This time though the troopers are sent over the border into Canada to help transition a town into becoming part of America. Of course, at this point no one really wants to be part of America, so they're met with plenty of resistance not just from the local townsfolks, but also the Mounties that have to turn over the keys to the kingdom. It doesn't take long for our heroes to resort to their shenanigans and even come up with a few new pranks as well. Luckily though, they stumble upon a mystery to solve just in time to save them from themselves.

As hilarious as the Broken Lizard troupe is I was delighted by their choices to play the three Mounties, which included Will Sasso, Tyler Labine, and Hayes MacArthur. All of whom play their roles as hilariously cliched Canadians with French accents, a love for hokey, and plenty of "sorries" to go around. They're not the only new faces you'll recognize though with plenty of cameos from the likes of Clifton Collins Jr, Sean William Scott, and Damon Waynes Jr. As if that wasn't enough, even Rob Lowe makes an appearance as the brothel-owning mayor of the town (don't worry, it's legal in Canada). These fresh faces are probably what helps prevent 'Super Troopers 2' from resorting to too many of the jokes we all loved to in the first one and they're welcome additions to the film.

What makes 'Super Troopers 2' work so well is that it knows why people loved the first one so much. Sure there's an overall plot to the movie, but it's interspersed with scenes that serve no real purpose other than to be hilarious. For example, at one point the Troopers steal the Mounties uniforms and pull people over to prank them. The film manages to recreate those scenes we loved in the original but puts a new twist on them as they speak with ridiculous accents, pull cars over on horses, and even meet a driver they pulled over all those years ago. It's incredibly satisfying to see a sequel that doesn't try to do everything the first film did, but at the same time doesn't try to reinvent the wheel.

It's easy to tell how much Broken Lizard enjoyed making 'Super Troopers 2,' which makes it so easy to laugh along with them. There's something pure about a movie that's made for fun with the sole purpose of making people laugh. Sure, there are plenty of parts in the film that are underwhelming. The locations are often underutilized, the plot serves to carry the team from joke to joke, and it still has that low budget feel that forced the first film to be so creative. In a lot of ways, 'Super Troopers 2' is not a good movie. Then again, it doesn't have to be. Like I always say, "Not all great movies are good."

There have been some really great comedies this year from 'Blockers' to 'Game Night.' While 'Super Troopers 2' might not have the same quality that made those films so great, it's definitely one that fills the theater with laughter. It's hard to be made at its shortcomings though. After all, movies are meant as escapism. To help get away from all the crap going on in your life. I'm certainly not against films having deeper, meaningful messages, but sometimes you just want something stuffed with stupid fart jokes. In that regards, 'Super Troopers 2' is a resounding success. If you loved the first one, then you're going to have a blast seeing the old gang back together again. I know I did.

I was worried it would fall into the pitfalls of comedy sequels like Anchorman 2, American Reunion, and Zoolander 2, films that just were not nearly as funny as their genius predecessors. But thankfully this film did not disappoint me as many comedy reboots/sequels do, I found myself laughing hard at many of the silly and outlandish situations and jokes. I laughed much harder than the aforementioned sequels. And the film, like the first, does not take itself seriously, it knows the first is a cult classic and they don't try to out shine it, they just are as they are. One should not come to such a film thinking they will experience emotional, introspective, and thought provoking cinema, this is a silly old fun time that had me laughing several times, a long with everyone else in the theater,

And as far as it goes as a sequel to such a cult classic, they honestly could have done infinitely worse knowing how some reboots/sequels have turned out. Like I said before it doesn't try to outshine the first, but rather play on the things that made the first one so great. Its stupid, but fun. And without giving too much away, there are more than one joke relating to the original that fans such as myself will enjoy seeing. So no, it had no beautiful cinematography, had no introspective character development, and had no greater message, but honestly, who gives a s***, it a fun and stupid movie that I enjoyed because I knew this film was intended to not be taken seriously, its a comedy for crying out loud. People will review saying its lame, but don't listen, hey are flat out wrong.

The first Super Troopers came out 17 years ago, and while the first movie is extremely funny, and the other Broken Lizard movies, like Beerfest & the Slammin Salmon, are funny, this movie either tries too hard to be a rehash of the first, or the comedy just doesn't hold up the same over time.

You don't really get to see much of the boys actually out as "cops" until the second half of the movie, as the first half is mostly spent on "fish out of water" stuff, aka America vs Canada shtick that isn't all that funny. The whole "Canada is different than America, Eh? Soorry!" stuff didn't appeal to my funny bone, but once the boys hit the "crisis" point in the movie and had to actually hit the road as "cops," there were some good moments. I just wish it didn't take so long to get there. From that point, it's kind of a paint by numbers Super Troopers 1 plot remade for a sequel.

It's pretty much a one time watch, then forget.

Oh, and the funniest part in the entire film is a Fred Savage cameo that happens during the credits, so don't miss it. They build up to it during the film.

Not as good as the first one still funny a little slow near the end

Here comes the sequel to 2001's cult comedy bringing loads of more of the same. This is probably not a bad thing, considering "Super Troopers 2" was crowd-funded at IndieGoGo - so there must have been a considerable number of fans asking for extra helping.

When a border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, the Super Troopers are tasked with establishing a Highway Patrol station in the disputed area. Writing and starring Broken Lizard comedy gang (of course), plus some other faces you'll be happy to see again, such as Brian Cox.

"Super Troopers 2" offers an eclectic menu of different kinds of humor, including stoner, raunchy, and obscure jokes, not to mention a distinct montypythonian vibe. So there's seemingly something for anybody with a taste for mainstream comedy.

The greatest thing about the movie is this unique vibe the gang has. Everyone has dived so eagerly into their character, embracing the "going everywhere and trying everything" kind of attitude, and the obscurity of it all...

At its best, it's so freeflowing and unpredictable - even able to go from "meh" to inspired lunacy during the same setpiece - that one can't help but be charmed a little.

There may be no one essential scene that would stick into mind like the original's "meow game". But the result is still markedly funnier and more watchable than many other recent cult comedy sequels we did not exactly need, including "Zoolander 2", "Anchorman 2", "Bad Santa 2" and "Dumb and Dumber 2".

What is bad, however, is the movie not having much of a screenplay.

Just dicking around is fine for a while, sure, but there will come a saturation point when all this constant mouthing off gets stale without a proper story or interesting characters.

Not to mention Broken Lizard's eager and tireless rehashing of the same jokes over and over again (cocky Canadians, stupid Americans, reckless cops).

"Super Troopers 2" may have enough fun moments to be worth of comedy lover's while. But even a mighty bridge can't stand without some proper base pillars.